pumpkinstrokemarrow

Other people, on the same need, catch a plane to Tenerife in order to buy some garbanzos at one of the bars there. Chick peas with pork and other matters. Very good they are too. And I dare say the Tenerifeans would be very pleased to see you, their being rather short of Brit money what with the credit crisis and the sliding pound. Remember not to wear your Barca football scarf; they are mad on Real Madrid. I remember being in a bar behind the bus station at Puerto and only escaping by protesting that I was a Manchester United supporter and nothing to do with Barcelona. That little difficulty over they were very hospitable. Even more so if you can say garbanzos so they understand you first time around. A trick I have yet to master.

Us Epsomians do it the hard way. Buy a pork belly. Have it boned. Cut a six inch square from the fillet and separate the fat from the lean. A fiddly procedure for which you will need time and a small sharp knife. You will find that the pig seems to have two bands of muscle around its stomach, one paler than the other. I forget to check whether the grains are cross wise, as in the layers of veneer in plywood. Meanwhile, soak two pounds of chick peas overnight. At the same time, boil up the bones from the pork belly. After about three hours, strain stock and remove meat from the bones, gristle and pipe. Return meat to the stock. Add the strained chick peas. Bring to boil. After a bit of boiling turn down to simmer. Add three medium onions, chopped. Add three medium tomatoes chopped. Simmer for an hour or so. Work in some corn flour and tomato puree (this last cheating a bit) to thicken the gravy a bit. Add some chopped streaky bacon from happy pigs from Cheam. Add the chopped pork belly from step 1. Simmer for another hour or so. Add some button mushrooms and serve your gallon or so of garbanzos. Not all that differant from the stuff from the tin. It all goes to show that you can do it if you try. And you learn that, as the Heinz tin points out, they are saving you a lot of bother with a complicated recipe.

On the second outing, it being unlikely that you will do the whole gallon on the first outing, add a little flaked baked cod and rather more flaked boiled smoked (not dyed) haddock. This adds a bit of heart-healthy alpha-15d oil as well as a bit of additional zing to the flavour. Go for it!

As an optional extra, roll up the balance of the pork belly and roast it. Makes a good succulent joint, rather cheaper than leg, blade bone or loin. Or even one of those strange cuts sold by Mr S..